Madness and insanity
by Serane
Summary: A series of drabbles pre-RHPS... how did the characters meet, what is life like in the Frankenstein place? T for adult themes, language and general insanity
1. Snake

This is planned a a series of drabbles, not necessarily connected or in chronological order, mostly human POV's… I find it hard to write from our Alien's POVs… I feel it's giving away too much of their mystery

Snake

When Columbia first met Frank, it was late at night, on the way home from a nightclub. She was walking slightly unsteady home, deep in thought about that biker guy she had danced with shortly before. They had danced and laughed and drank together before he suddenly vanished when she went to the bar get a refill. He had been cute in a bad boy kind of way, in his black leather jacket with those pins and badges and chains. Hair slicked back to reveal sideburns, he was tall and strong and had very broad shoulders, just what she found attractive. A real man should be able to carry a girl on his hands, literally. .. she sighed. He was gone and she should rush home, seeing it was already past her curfew and she'd be in one hell of trouble, but she didn't really care. The initial buzz of the first drinks long gone, the night air was cold and fresh, and helped her to sober up after the heat and beers and cigarette smoke of the club numbed her brain in a pleasant way.

She was deep in thought, thinking of her friends on their way home, wondering why that guy left all of a sudden…and where…and the next second, she felt a tingle in her neck, like someone stared at her intensely. She turned her head slightly and noticed a guy sitting in his black, beat up pickup truck and observing her through the windshield. She returned his gaze... His eyes seemed to bore into her, intense, dangerous, calling out to her silently. As if she fell under a spell, felt like being pulled… she was still mildly intoxicated and before she realized what she was doing, her feet carried her over towards the pickup truck. The strange man parked in front of an all-night diner, apparently waiting for someone. She nearly stumbled when she reached the driver side, where his window was rolled down and had to lean her elbows against the door. Her head was so heavy, so tired from the rush of the night and probably too many beers, she had to place her chin on her arms, her head rolling to the side so that she could see the guy inside the car better. His eyes were so unusual, so different... They projected heat and longing and passion, not just like other guys, but intensely focused just on her, trying to decipher her secrets, reading her from the pattern of her iris. She was so tired from drinking and smoking and dancing… her head felt heavy, too heavy to support itself anymore. But when she gazed up at him, sitting silently as a statue in his car, time stood still, the whole world seemed to shrink until all that was left was him and her. His face was half hidden in the velvet darkness, defined chin and high cheekbones, shaved smoothly…black disheveled locks half tugged behind his ears und falling over his forehead into his eyes… eyes, so dark she felt like drowning in them. Only later she realized that he wore indeed makeup, eyeliner and mascara… even more than she did, which she found it terribly exciting and rebellious. Sensual, chiseled lips parted into a wide smirk as he practically purred out a deep_, _rumbled_ "How do you do"._ Columbia couldn't help but giggle. Here, in this tiny boring town in the middle of nowhere, he talked like some English lord from the past century. So ridiculous… it made no sense! Where the hell did he come from? Columbia was even more intrigued now. She introduced herself then, curious to find out more about him, stretching out her right hand, but instead of shaking it, he took it ceremonially and kissed her knuckles, his lips lingering a moment longer than necessary.

_"Enchantée"_ That startled her and she forgot what she wanted to say, mesmerized by his eyes. The inside of his car smelled weird, in an exotic kind of way… of apples, and incense, and something else, unidentifiable. He didn't seem disturbed by her surprised silence at all, but studied her face quietly, his eyes gliding from her colorful dyed hair over her smudged eye makeup, to her lips where he lingered several seconds before dipping lower to her cleavage. His hand still held hers, and suddenly his head bowed once more over her fingers, this time he kissed her knuckles longer, lips opening slightly and his tongue darted out to trace the ridge between her fingers in a very… very sensual way … now she was breathless, heat spreading from her fingertips all over her body and forming a blush on her cheeks. He looked up at her again… _"I'm Frank"_ and winked at her. How she ended up in his car, she couldn't remember, but when he finally drove her home many hours later, the eastern sky turned into a rose tint.


	2. Red & Blue

**Thank you so much everyone who reviewed or alerted my stories, I'm thrilled that there seem to be a lot of people out there sharing my favorite obsession ;) All belongs to Richard, I'm just having fun corrupting the alien prince muahahah**

Red & Blue

Columbia was rebuttoning her blouse, running her hands through her short red hair to smooth it back down and leaned her head against the car door. The windows were fogged up, the interior only dimly lit from the blue glow of the radio which filled the car with low music, current hits like 'bad company' by the band of the same name. She looked at the man next to her, sprawled across the back seat with his eyes half closed, like a giant, relaxed cat, his locks even wilder and more disheveled that usually. "You mind if I smoke?" He eyed her for a moment, then smiled lazily…_"Go ahead baby"_ She fished for her jacket in the leg area, found her cigarettes and lit one silently. Nicotine was flooding her system, cooling her overheated blood and made her heartbeat return back to normal. She closed her eyes and took another deep drag, filling her lungs and letting the smoke waft out of her mouth slowly… heaven…

He stared intently at her now, captivated, following the ringlets of blue fume leaving her lips. "What is that like?" She blinked, surprised at his question. He asked her all kinds of strange things, often about life in their small town and the people in it, which was understandable since he told her he just recently relocated here. But sometimes he asked her about everyday stuff, normal stuff which made Columbia suspect that he must have grown up terribly sheltered or secluded or both. What man in his late twenties hadn't smoked a cigarette before? Nearly all guys she knew were smokers… but then, Frankie wasn't like all guys. He was special, so very special and so very different from everyone she ever met before. She smiled at him… _"Wanna try?"_ He nodded and she handed her half smoked cigarette over to him. He eagerly took a deep drag and immediately started coughing violently, his eyes watering. She laughed at him then, as that was the answer to her wordless question… no, he never smoked before. She wanted to take back her cigarette then, but his face took that determined expression she learned to know so well. He tried again, this time more careful and let blue smoke slowly leave through his lips. Now it was her turn to stare at him, his utterly relaxed form half sitting, half lying in front of her, his eyes closed and his face glowing reddish whenever he gracefully took a drag, the glow of the cigarette illuminating his delicately chiseled features.… he was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Columbia had to swallow a lump away that suddenly formed in her throat. Oh yes, he was different… this was different. With a crushing clearity, she realized that for the first time in her life, she was falling in love.

**Don't smoke kids... it's only cool if fictional characters do it!**


	3. Family I

**Another short one! Columbia/Frank is surprisingly inspiring... Richard O'Brien owns them all.**

Family

They had dated for three weeks, three weeks that felt like a blink of the eye or like an eternity, depending on the situation. Time lost its meaning when she was with Frank, her world spinning out of its axis, the whole universe shrinking into oblivion. When she wasn't with him, time stretched like bubblegum, minutes crawling away, making her miserable and moody until she heard the faint rumble of his pickup truck approaching. Her friends were angry with her because she didn't have time for them anymore; her family noticed her change and voiced concern. She couldn't bring herself to care about other people and their worry though, her new boyfriend on her mind constantly. Whenever they met, they met alone, partly because she wanted to have him all for herself, partly because he showed no interest in the other people in her life.

Everything appeared dull and grey without him, but when he came to pick her up, his presence made everything so much more briliantl and vibrant. One whide smilie of that beautiful mouth switched on the colors in her life, everything else lost its meaning. As she sat in his car, ridiculously happy, babbling about her day and singing along loudly to the songs on the radio, she belatedly realized that this time, he neither drove them to downtown nor to the lake or the drive-in cinema. Instead, he took a remote country road which led them through a thick, dark forest, away from her familiar town. Confused, she broke off mid-song… _"Hey baby, where are we going?"_ He briefly turned to her, grinning... _"I thought you might be interested to check out my humble abode"_ before turning his gaze back to the street ahead.

Columbia lost her train of thought, turning nervous. His 'abode'... he took her to his place? So far, he hadn't talked much about his background, his home or the people in his life, evading her questions or asking her something in return that made her prattle on about something else. She didn't know wheter he lived alone… Did he plan to introduce her to his family? She looked down at herself, her cut off jeans shorts and the lowcut, glittered tshirt he liked so much on her…. hardly the right attire for a formal parental introduction. Suddenly she felt insecure… what if she made the wrong impression? Nervously, she started rummaging through her bag, looking for a brush and her makeup. He noticed that, took one of her restless hands into his.

_"Are you… do you live alone?"_

He smiled slightly.

_"No sweetheart, you'll meet Magenta and Riff Raff today."_

_"Are they family?"_

He seemed puzzled at that and thought for a moment, turning serious, his british accent more pronounced.

_"We're not related. But… they're all that's left. I don't have much contact with my family anymore."_

Something unidentifiable resonated in his voice… sadness, contempt, longing? Columbia couldn't quite place a finger on it, but she didn't dare to ask, since he just opened up a bit. She hoped he'd share more, but he turned silent now, focusing completely on the serpentine road. She took his hand which still held hers in her lap and kissed his fingers. As she got his attention and he briefly turned to her, she smiled sweetly.

_"Frankie… I'm excited to meet them."_

That brought back the usual amused look on his face and he chuckled slightly.

_"I'm excited for you to meet them too actually. Consider me shivering in antici…."_

He trailed off, his voice in a deep, dramatic whisper as he drove through a rusty gate and pulled into an overgrown, unruly driveway. Her mouth fell open when he parked in front of his 'humble abode'.

_"…pation."_

**Frank is so hard to write... *sigh* I must have seen the RHPS literally 100s of times and yet when I write a scene with him, my mind turns into Frankie-Fangirl-Mode and all I want do is worship him ;) Please let me know if his voice/tone sounds off...**_  
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	4. Morning

**I'm playing with Ritzy O'Brien's brianchild again... Got a couple of half finished ideas more for this, if you want, you can send me a prompt and I'll try to write a drabble on it. Thanks everyone who reviewed or alerted this, I'm terribly humbled by your interest :)**

Morning

The more often Columbia spent the night at – what she called jokingly 'The Frankenstein Place' – the more she realized that her and Frank's morning rituals were vastly different. While she was a true night owl and could hardly wake up in the mornings, he turned out to be an insomniac. His restless mind never stopped running at the speed of light, driven by his scientific hunger and curiosity for the strangest subjects. His boundless energy was addicting, often keeping him up all night -not that Columbia minded- … or driving him out of bed in the middle of the night -which she minded very much- pottering around noisily in his laboratory.

She soon discovered that RiffRaff and Frank were always awake and already working for hours before she even stumbled out of bed. When she padded groggily into the kitchen in search for morning caffeine fix, it was usually only Magenta who joined her there for a cup and a cigarette. Riffraff hated coffee much like he seemed to hate anything else, and Frank stayed far away from it, because it made him hyper and jumpy.

One morning Columbia was lying in bed, slowly realizing that she woke up feeling cold, the warm body next her missing in the huge bed. She stretched an arm out to make skin contact again, but found only a pillow smelling faintly of his shampoo. Fighting sleep, she opened her eyes, looking for him… it was still night, or the very early morning, and her body protested, wanting to turn around and go back to sleep. But she spotted him, standing naked by the window, looking out. In the early morning light he looked pale, his usual make up mostly worn off, making him look … normal and disturbingly innocent. Outside, the dark night sky lit up in blues, purples and shades of pink. His face, unguarded for once, showed pure awe, absolute fascination and childlike joy.

Columbia took the dark silk bedcover and walked silently over to his still form, hugging him close and wrapping them both in the blanket. He didn't move or acknowledge her, his face closing off at their contact. She kissed his chest above his heart, mumbled to him to come back to bed, but he detangled himself from her embrace and grabbed her shoulders to resolutely turn her towards the window.

_"Watch this."_ She did as he said, no, as he … ordered her to do. _"This is the most beautiful thing ever."_

Surprisingly, that gave her a sting. Frank didn't exactly treat her as if he took her for granted… but he wasn't big in the compliment department either. She wanted to be the most beautiful thing for him… wanted to hear those words in that adoring tone he had used. More often than before now, there was a distance between them that she couldn't understand. He could be so interested or sweet or well… horny… one minute and the next she felt like she was losing the emotional connection to him, the gap between them widening, his reactions so shockingly different and unpredictable as if he came from another planet. Lost in thought, she looked out, watching the stars vanishing in the blue morning light.

He sensed the change in her mood and closed his arms around her, hugged her back to his chest, his chin resting on her head.

He continued, softer this time _"Watch this Columbia. This makes it worth everything. This is earth's greatest wonder…."_

And there was her Frankie again, so different from others, with his strange way of seeing things, his weird, crooked view of the world around them. Even if she didn't always understand him, in those valued moments, when he was quiet and thoughtful, she felt like she was the only one who had access to him. She leaned against him, feeling safe once more in his arms. Whatever the future would bring, she could deal with, as long as she had him.


	5. Science and Fiction

**Not sure if I'm happy with this one, a bit disjointed, no? But then, just like I imagine life in the Frankenstein place! Let me know what you think...All of this belongs to Ritzy, especially the dialogue, I'm just having fun blowing stuff up;) Thanks for any reviews & alerts, you guys rock! I'm currently working on Janet… erm chapter 5 of "give yourself over", hope I'll have it finished tomorrow…**

Science and Fiction

When Columbia moved into the 'Frankenstein place', she considered it the next step in her unconventional relationship with Frank. Her daydreams were filled with lovely breakfasts in bed, cuddling on the sofa and joined bubble baths... Reality, however, proved to be much different. Frank was a true scientist as she always imagined them, driven, dedicated to his craft… working all the time. Lately, literally all the time... Often now, when she talked to him about her day or her worries, his face got a faraway expression, drifting lightyears from her… sometimes he would get up in the middle of her sentence, grabbing wordlessly the next piece of paper in reach and manically scribbling foreign signs and calculations on it. Columbia forgave him easily though… he was a genius after all, her beloved genius boyfriend.

Riffraff always worked with him, stoically, his quiet shadow. While Frank's moods could change wildly from triumphal to over to angry and frustrated, Riffraff balanced his chaos with order and persistence. They'd spend days holed up in the upper levels of the house, Frank arguing loudly, Riffraff's quiet replies barely audible, bickering like an old married couple about molecular connections and chemical basepairs. She was bored mindless then, but she knew better than to go and join them upstairs. Instead, she started to spend more time with Magenta, trying to get to know her better. At first, she was intimidated and frankly a bit scared of quiet siblings. They'd often exchange secretive, loaded glances at random things Columbia would say… or ignoring her altogether, making her feel uneasy and unwelcome.

That changed after a particular loud bang that resonated through the entire house, making the old ceilings shake and spreading fumes and a burnt smell. The girls both hid under the kitchen table, coughing, waiting on the old walls to stop creaking and raining dust. Columbia screeched, scared out of her mind that they were about to blow the house up and all die, realizing even Magenta seemed mildly concerned, watching the creaks in the walls wearily through her dust-covered red locks. When the noise settled and the old chandeliers slowly stopped swinging, Magenta suddenly looked at Columbia as if she'd really seen her for the first time and told her that it might be safer for her if she left the house altogether. Surprised, she shook her head and asked in return what it was they were working so hard on that required such dangerous experiments. She really did want to be a part of this, although she felt like being left in the dark on a lot of stuff that was going on in the Frankenstein place. Magenta regarded her for a long moment, as if debating not answering at all, indecisive. Columbia wanted nothing more badly than to understand their story, their strange household she had gotten into and returned her glance pleadingly, making the strange quiet woman end up sighing, whispering that they were researching the magnificent secrets to the root of life itself. Somehow bitterly, she added that both were considered quite skilled at what they did, Frank's imagination and Riffraff's diligence a fruitful combination, although Frank unjustly claimed any success as his own. After surviving that day, Magenta opened up more to Columbia and some sort of friendship started to form between the girls.

If Frank was not busy in his lab, he was reading all the time, not just scientific volumes but all kinds of random literature. Novels, theatre plays, poems, legal texts, philosophical or religious studies… he made no distinction or explained his choice of reading material to her, showing no pattern in his current fascinations. Sometimes he would bring books to the dinner table and read aloud random passages to all them, on lengthy historical stuff or social manners or Grimm's Snow White, nothing Columbia couldn't relate to his scientific work. He did have a velvet voice though, his rumbling baritone making even the driest material worth listening to during their meals. Once he came across a particular boring passage of the newest findings on research of outer space that would have Columbia dozed off into a comatose state had someone else read it to her. She briefly wondered what had provoked his interest into that particular subject when Magenta abruptly got up, her chair falling over and shooting Frank a nothing but hateful glance over the table. He stared silently back to her, his lips pressed into thin line, his eyes narrowing and willing her to sit back down. Columbia looked helplessly from one to the other as if she was sitting in a tennis match, trying to think about something to say to lighten up the awkward moment, but Magenta brusquely left the room, Riffraff on her heels with a stony expression. She wanted to follow them, but saw Frank's icy look and stayed at the table, unhappily torn between the man she loved and the woman she started to consider a friend.

Another night, Frank brought a Bible to the table and started reading the creation myth, reciting the snake's seduction of eve with an apple in a particular dramatic voice, which prompted Magenta's hysteric laughter and making even Riffraff smirk slightly.

"_Magenta… Columbia… Riffraff!"_

They all three looked at him expectedly, Columbia more puzzled than anything at his weird antics.

"_Tonight you are to witness a breakthrough in our research…paradise is to be mine."_

Riffraff looked slightly disgusted at this, his shaky smirk vanishing, but Frank ignored him and continued _"__It__ was __strange __the__ way __it __happened__…__Suddenly __you __get__ a__ break__… __whole__ pieces__ start __to__ fit __into __place__… __The__ answer __was __there __all __the __time.__That __elusive __ingredient,__ that__ SPARK__…"_

Startled, Columbia nearly choked on her food when he suddenly closed the heavy volume with a loud smack.

"…_that is the breath of life…"_

He trailed of dramatically, enjoying the now undivided attention of the three. Even though Columbia had no idea what he was talking about or what religion had to do with his mysterious research, she sent him a warm, encouraging smile to prompt him to continue and explain.

He shot her a brilliant smile back, grabbing the Bible for emphasis with both hands.

"_You are all quite fortunate to witness the next step in my research…"_

He shook the Bible as if it carried all the answers …even Riffraff stared at him confused now.

"_You are fortunate for tonight is the night that I decided to become a priest and you all are going to assist me."_


	6. Green & Black

**Thank you all who review this or seem to enjoy reading it, this rather fluffy one is for QueenCynder! Dear Ritzy owns them all, I just corrupt them...** **this is T, bordering on M I guess and happens before Columbia moves into the Frankenstein place.**

Green and black

Columbia, of course, was no stranger to various types of drugs. When she was still a teenager, the occasional joint was a guilty pleasure enjoyed in secret with the wrong neighbor boys, the ones her parents wanted her to keep away from. When she got old enough to hit the club scene, chemical drugs helped to prolong the high of music and lights and dancing. Uppers followed, making her squeaky and energetic when she practiced her dance routines, downers helped her sleep at night when all she wanted to do was forget.

Just as she had introduced Frank to smoking, they shared what she suspected was his first joint by the lake one peaceful summer night. He was lying on a dirty old blanket next to her, propped up on his elbows and studied her intently as she sucked greedily on the joint, keeping the greenish smoke down in her lungs as long as possible. She was quite used to the maryjane, and it being only some weak, cheap stuff this time, didn't feel too much of an influence, but when she handed it to him and he took his hit imitating her… his elbows didn't seem to support him anymore and he slowly lied down flat on his back, watching the stars above them. Calm flooded her as she finished the joint, the only sounds soft, muted by the darkness. She had kicked off her platform shoes… debated proposing to go skinny dipping, wondering if the murky lake would be too cold, but laziness won over and she just relaxed back onto the blanket. She was completely at ease…

A snicker broke her calm, the man next to her still looking at the dark sky, working himself up into a violent giggling… like a little schoolgirl. She was amused… he really must have grown up sheltered when a couple of puffs of weak shit like that made him laugh like this.

_"Look Columbia… the stars…"_

He broke off again, giggling, and instead pointed up at the night sky with both hands, including the whole universe in his grand gesture. She followed his gaze and regarded the stars, really looking this time, wondering if she'd remember any constellations from school, but couldn't come up with any.

_"Yeah, they're beautiful, aren't they? There are so many… so very far away…"_

He suddenly turned onto his side, facing her, his eyes mischievous and his hand placed on her upper thigh, moving higher…

_"Say… what would you do if I told you that they are rather so very close?"_

She regarded him confused, her mind slowed in a slightly drugged state. He noticed her puzzlement, one beautiful eyebrow shooting up, his devilish grin hovering over her, the amusement dancing in his eyes, pupils incredibly dilated so that the usual green was chased away by the black. The delicious feeling of his hand moving up, his long fingers tracing the ripped seams of her cut off jeans shorts made her wish he'd shut up with his drugged out blabbering and instead started kissing her….

_"What if I confessed to you that I am in truth an alien from one of those stars… on a noble mission here on planet earth?"_

She cracked up then, and tried to picture him with little green alien ears, but failed and worked herself into another hard, genuine laughing fit that brought tears to her eyes, enhanced by the haze in her brain and he laughed with her until she wiped the tears from her eyes, smearing her dark makeup slightly and grinned teasingly at the beautiful man above her.

_"Well let's hope you … come… in peace then, huh?"_

He grinned back, his eyes gaining a completely different quality then, that familiar dark glint he reserved just for her… he leaned even closer as his hands began to play with the button of her shorts and murmured against her neck.

_"Oh not yet my sweetling…. But that's definitely the plan for tonight…"_

And with that, neither of them laughed anymore or showed any interest in the black night sky above them as Frank stayed true to his word and slowly opened the button of her pants.

**Please don't try this at home kids, drug abuse will probably have you end up dead like Frankie or Columbia and we don't want that. **


	7. Foam

**Ritzy owns them, I'm just think it's fun to cover them in foam ;) Don't worry, I'm still working on "Give yourself over", but the virgin doth protest too much so far. Silly Janet...  
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Steam was rising from the still hot bubble bath. Columbia was soaking in the old danged up clawfoot tub, resting her head, tempted to close her eyes and doze off, but unable to tear her gaze from the naked man in front of the mirror. She was tired, and a little sore, but pleasantly so. Frank already got out of the tub, and now stood in front of the mirror, lathering up shaving foam and applying it with great concentration, a familiar ritual. He hated his beard… fiercely. Unfortunately, he was 'blessed' with a strong growth, so on rather special nights … like tonight… he had to shave in the evening once more to achieve his usual smooth look. Columbia had begged him to let it grow once – just a bit - curious to see what he'd look like, but he just rolled his eyes and flat out refused.

Now the only sounds were the slight drip of the old tap and the scratch-scratch-scratch of the razor on his cheeks. His wet curls were held together in a messy samurai –style pony tail, a rather fetching look she thought as she watched little droplets of water dripping down onto his shoulders and gliding over his naked back towards his glorious – and equally naked – butt. She sighed softly… he was gorgeous, regardless if he just stood naked and undone in front of the mirror with that highly focused look on his face or in his full regalia he'd surely don later. It was a special night, he said, making her a bit nervous… some 'friends' from 'home' would come over … he'd go all out and told her to do the same.

She got out of the tub and started to dry her short hair - took her much shorter than him- and applied her make-up, which again took him much longer to apply. As she finished her lips, she caught him looking at her in the mirror. She blew him a kiss with her cherry red lips and winked at him. For a moment, he stared questioningly at her through the mirror, then turned to look at her directly and took her chin in his hand, turning her face this way and that, studying it from all ankles.

_"You have rather pretty eyes…"_

He remarked that casually, as if he just noticed that now, his flat voice not really filled with adoration, but Columbia felt like melting into a puddle none the less. It was a rare occasion that he paid her compliments and not the other way round.

_"… but your eyebrows are horrible."_

Her happiness deflated instantly. Her eyebrows were horrible? They were just regular, normal-girl eyebrows!

_"Here, let's try something … close your eyes."_

She did as he told, thinking he'd kiss her maybe… but a second later, a cool wet brush was striped across her eyebrows.

_"No, keep your eyes shut, you'll get foam in them"_

Suddenly, she felt something cold and hard on her forehead and before she had the chance to complain or pull away… he had shaved her left eyebrow off.

_"FRANKIE! What the hell…!"_

_"Shhh… hold still, I don't wanna cut you."_

And with that her right eyebrow was gone too. She stood still, stunned. A towel was wiped not unkindly over her face to get the rest of the foam off and when she turned timidly to the mirror, she let out a small scream and clenched her fists to her face.

_"I LOOK LIKE A FREAK!"_

_"Oh c'mon Columbia, quit being always so… melodramatic. Don't make such a fuss now, we're not done yet… I'm thinking … Marlene Dietrich or Faye Wray."_

She stared at the mirror… and at him, shocked, back at the unfamiliar face in the mirror, unable to form words, back at him with a not small amount of hatred, but he ignored her and started rummaging through the products on the sink, grabbing a black kohl and took her chin again to tilt her face up to him and away from the mirror. She stood still, like a ragdoll, as he began to sketch eyebrows onto her forehead, closing her eyes in defeat, not wanting to look at him. How could he do this to her without even asking her? How could he be so highhanded and insensitive towards her? Sometimes she doubted his feelings for her, and sometimes… not often… he did things she could learn to hate him for.

Unfazed by her mental and emotional turmoil, he seemed to ponder something, hmming at his work, tapping the kohl against his chin in thought. He wasn't really satisfied with his results and taking the black kohl between his teeth, removed the dark eyebrows again and picked her red lipliner instead.

_"Splendid… much better! Such a classic look…"_

She looked at the mirror again, uneasy and still mourning her lost eyebrows. The girl in the mirror looking back didn't resemble her at all she thought, but admittedly she didn't look half bad either. Cartoonish, yes… extreme… but her eyes seemed much bigger now, and if she placed her rouge a little higher now…

_"Now you'll fit in nicely, Columbia. You could almost pass as one of us."_

And with his words, her heart soared, wanting so desperately belong to them, to him, her lost eyebrows forgotten and her doubt in him melting away like the foam on the razor.


End file.
